Method for securing information are known in art. Conventional methods are based on encryption wherein secured data is processed according to a predetermined encryption method or key to provide an encrypted file. Decoding the encrypted file, back to the original information requires processing the encrypted file backwards according to the encryption method or key.
Computers which are connected to WAN or LAN communication networks are vulnerable to hostile intrusion by unauthorized persons or data viruses which attempt to access classified files, download them and "crack" their encryption.
The problem is significantly enhanced for portable computers, which are also liable to be stolen along with the information contained therein.
Another major problem relates to securing access to data and devices when in communication over a network. Unauthorized network users may attempt to penetrate the secured system or try to send damaging software, such as software viruses. Prior art software systems such as fire-walls and the like, do not provide a full proof solution against such unauthorized attempts.
Another major problem relates to securing an organization's networks and computers against virus programs. A number of products currently provide on-line scanning of incoming communication to identify damaging software such as viruses (such as WebShield of Finjan Software Ltd. of Netania, Israel, PCFireWall and WebScan of McCafee Inc. of Santa Clara Calif.). It will be appreciated that scanning all incoming data and data changes during communication consumes a great deal of resources and is generally not performed at a full scale in real time.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,434,562 to David C. Reardon describes a manually user operable switch for securing a device such as a hard disk from unauthorized access from a network.
In computer systems, it is common to implement an audit log, to record security related activities in the system. In this case, the recorded log itself needs to be secured against future alteration, which will deceive the auditor to trust a forged record.
It will be appreciated that an effective security log needs to be written on a media which cannot be altered. A common method is to print the log on hard copy. While hard copy is difficult to alter, it is also more difficult to duplicate, process and communicate in a computerized environment.
Another method is to write the log on a Write Once Read Many media (such as Pinnacle RCD-1000, Pinnacle Micro Corporation). It will be appreciated that in practice Write Once Read Many data storage solutions are inferior to common read-write technologies (such as magnetic hard disks) in both performance and reliability. Furthermore, the installation of a Write Once device for the sole purpose of recording a log involves significant costs.
Special software applications are able to detect attempts of such hostile intrusion to computer resources by unauthorized persons or data viruses. In this case, the computer has to be restarted (boot operation) from a "clean media" which is often called a rescue diskette, since the hard drives of the computer are suspected to be contaminated. This clean media often includes removable media such as a diskette or a CD-ROM.
Methods for remotely connecting stations to devices are known in the art. It will be appreciated that in order to connect to a specified device, a user is usually required to provide access information, which includes one or more predetermined sequences, such as identification number, password and the like. Accordingly, the receiving device does not require any other information other than the access information.
The connecting or disconnecting of a station to a selected device is basically performed by a relay, electro-mechanical or electronic, at the remote switching device.